Mediaset experiences first annual loss

Falling advertising revenue in Italy dragged Mediaset to its first annual loss since the broadcaster owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi listed on the stock exchange 13 years ago.

Italy’s largest private broadcaster recorded a net loss of €287m for 2012. Advertising revenues fell 16 per cent compared with a year earlier. It said it had taken writedowns worth €308m on sports rights and falling advertising revenues.

Mediaset said it would not pay a dividend. Advertising sales continued to fall in the first months of this year and it declined to make forecasts, it added.

“The group’s results for 2012 were severely affected by the economic crisis and, in particular, by recession in Italy and Spain,” the group said in a statement.

Mediaset was listed on the Milan stock exchange in 1996, two years after Mr Berlusconi won his first election. Shares in the broadcaster have lost nearly a third of their value in the past year against a backdrop of falling advertising.

During the run-up to Italy’s national election in February, Mr Berlusconi made frequent references to the difficulties his company was facing due to the recession, renewing longstanding criticisms about his conflict of interests.

Pier Silvio Berlusconi, vice-chairman and son of the media mogul politician, has said he intends to cut €450m of costs by 2014 to try to boost profitability. Those cuts will include job losses. Mediaset said it had also boosted cash generation and cut its net debt.